GOODWELL, Okla. – Coming off one its biggest wins in two years, the MACU men's basketball team ran into a tough contest at Oklahoma Panhandle State as a missed free throw with no time left allowed the Aggies to come away with a 66-65 win inside Anchor D Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Seth Hurd – 18 Points, 8-16 FG, 2-4 FT, 4 Reb
• Magok Manyang – 15 Points, 3-6 FG, 8-8 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Blocks
• Jasiah Lewis – 12 Points, 4-6 FG, 1-1 3FG, 3-3 FT, 4 Reb, 2 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Mid-America Christian (4-2, 1-1 SAC) went through Seth Hurd to start the contest as the senior forward powered in a lay-in before hitting a hook shot with just under 18 minutes to before OPSU's Amaree Brown buried a three to close it to 4-3 with 17:36 remaining.
  • After Hurd and Joe Greaves traded buckets on back-to-back possessions, the Evangels an 11-0 run capped off on a DeAngelo Adkins left-handed floating hook shot to set the score to 19-5 with 10:19 left.
  • Over the next four minutes, the Aggies put a major dent in MACU's advantage, holding the Evangels to just two points during this stretch as a Tahki Chievous steal led to a fastbreak layup for Brown to cut it to 21-18 at the 6:05 mark.
  • With both teams struggling on the offensive end over the next six minutes, the Aggies weren't able to cut much more into the MACU lead and the Evangels were able to build to it until a pair of Kaleb Stephens free throws tied the game up at 27 with 20 seconds to go.
  • Hurd powered in another layup with six seconds left on MACU's final possession of the half, but the Evangels left too much time as Greaves came down the court and buried a long three from the right wing at the buzzer to send the Aggies into the half with the 30-29 advantage.
• Second Half
  • The start of the second half was a back-and-forth battle that saw four lead changes and two ties through the first 3:17 as Jasiah Lewis splashed a jumper from the left elbow to draw it even at 36-36 with 16:43 remaining.
  • A Fred Robinson three on the ensuing possession put the Aggies back in-front before both teams went cold offensively for a three-minute stretch as a Brown layup was the only score before the Evangels finally snapped the spell on Hurd's offensive board and putback with 13:30 left to make it 41-38.
  • The Aggies quickly built their lead out to as much as seven with Brown and Greaves nailing jumpers on the next two possessions. It seemed every time MACU was able to cut into the advantage, OPSU had an answer as a Calavan jumper was answered by a Brown bucket and a Magok Manyang three was answered by a Greaves three, bringing the score to 50-43 with 10:47 on the clock.
  • A great post feed entry by Eddie Smith to Manyang for a layup jumpstarted the Evangels offense as MACU put together a 9-3 run featuring a Tarrence Gaines layup and a Mikel Henderson three before Henderson ended the run with an incredible cut to the basket and a Hurd feed for the hoop and the harm, cutting it to one-point game at 53-52 with 7:44 left.
  • OPSU didn't allow the Evangels to grab the lead as the Aggies scored the next six with a pair of Greaves foul shots extending the Panhandle edge out to 59-52 with 6:40 left.
  • The Evangels once again slowly chipped away at the OPSU lead over the next few minutes, closing it down to 60-57 on a pair of Manyang throws with just over five minutes to go, but MACU struggled to maintain an offensive rhythm as the Aggies once again extended the lead on back-to-back scores by Fred Robinson and Greaves to make it a 64-57 game just under three minutes to go.
  • MACU's defense was able to contain the Aggies over the final three minutes, holding OPSU to just two points the rest of the way, but the Evangels' comeback efforts were kept in relative check as two Greaves free throws set the score to 66-62 with 11 seconds left.
  • The Evangels got the quick score they needed when Lewis drove the length of the court and dished it for an easy Hurd lay-in with six seconds left before MACU's press defense forced a turnover on a long ball intercepted by Adkins to give MACU one last chance with three seconds left.
  • After a MACU timeout, the Evangels got the ball inside to Hurd, who was fouled going up for a potential game-tying jumper at the buzzer, setting him up with two foul shots to potentially tie the game with no time left. Hurd knocked down the first, but was off-the-mark on his second attempt as the Aggies escaped with the 66-65 win.

GAME NOTES

• While Mid-America Christian managed to shoot 22-for-55 (40 percent) for the contest, the Evangels struggled from beyond the three-point arc, converting on just 4-for-19 (21.1 percent) from range while making an efficient 17-of-21 (77.3 percent) from the foul line.
• Even though MACU's defense managed to hold Oklahoma Panhandle State to just 20-of-53 (37.7 percent), the biggest difference in the contest came from the three-point arc and the free throw line as the Aggies shot 9-for-24 (37.5 percent) from three and 17-of-20 (85 percent) from the charity stripe.
• While MACU won the turnover battle, forcing 12 Aggies giveaways while turning the ball over just nine times, the Evangels lost the battle on the glass with OPSU outrebounding MACU 38-34.
• Seth Hurd led MACU's offensive efforts with a season-high 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting and pulled down four rebounds while Magok Manyang also produced in the post for MACU, scoring 15 points on 3-of-6 from the field and went 8-for-8 from the line to go with four boards and a pair of blocked shots.
• Jasiah Lewis rounded out MACU's double-digit scorers with 12 points on a highly efficient 4-of-6 shooting while also burying 3-of-3 from the line.
• DeAngelo Adkins led MACU on the glass with seven rebounds while Eddie Smith finished with a team-high four assists.
• The win for the Aggies snapped MACU's three-game win streak over OPSU with Panhandle's las win over the Evangels coming in a 71-68 contest inside Anchor D Arena on Nov. 18, 2021.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will wrap-up its three-game road stand on Thursday as the Evangels head to Fort Worth, Texas for a 7:45 p.m. tip-off against Texas Wesleyan inside the Sid Richardson Center.